IN THE BAYS ON THE SOUTH-EAST COAST OF DEVON. 



453 



blondes (rays) found nowhere else in such abundance over the whole 

 fishing area of the Mumble Bees. The plaice obtained here are also 

 large, but there is a comparative absence of soles, dabs, gurnards, and 

 other species." 



Station IIa. is characterised by the general absence of small fish, and 

 by the large size of the flat-fish which occur upon it. Only one haul 

 of the trawl, however, is recorded for this station. 



In order to represent the seasonal differences in the fishing of Start 

 Bay it will be necessary to combine the records of all four stations, 

 since there is a considerable amount of migration within the bay at 

 different seasons from the shallower to the deeper parts and vice versd. 

 In view of the differences which the preceding table reveals, it will 

 readily be understood that combinations of the results of trawling over 

 these different stations will not be strictly comparable with one another 

 unless the different stations are represented in each combination in 

 equivalent proportions. In practice, the maintenance of any fixed 

 proportional representation of the different stations throughout the 

 monthly investigations was not found to be practicable. It is necessary, 

 therefore, before proceeding to discuss the seasonal differences observed, 

 to note the actual duration of trawling over the different stations in 

 each season of the year. These details are provided in the following 

 table : — 



Table IV., slwioing the Amount of Traiuling over each station in 

 Start Bay for each quarterly 'period of the year. 



Season. 



July, August, September 



October, November, December 



January, February . 



April, May, June . 



July, August .... 



October .... 



Totals 



101 10 19 15 



40 



15 50 



It will be seen that during the first quarter Stations II. and III. 

 received considerable attention as compared with Station I., but that 

 in succeeding quarters Station I, was investigated far more extensively 

 than the remaining grounds. The hauls on Station III. ceased after 

 April, 1902. 



Seasonal Changes. 



Although it is possible by an examination of Table E to obtain some 

 general ideas as to the effect of the seasons on the numbers and distri- 

 bution of the plaice in the bay, it is necessary to condense the results 

 in order to grasp the chief features in these changes. Table F provides 

 a series of monthly summaries showing the total catch, the catch per 



